New York · est. 2013Friday, September 4, 2026
Inside Immigration

Plain-language guides to US immigration, asylum and USCIS procedure.

Immigration judges

Vikram Badrinath

Immigration Judge, Sacramento Immigration Court. Appointed October 2022.

LenientGrants far more often than the national average-35.7 points

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Badrinath27.2%
Sacramento court27.0%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
813
Asylum granted
572
Other relief granted
20
Denied
221
Against own court
+0.2 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY23FY24FY25FY26
14%19%34%41%

Read from TRAC's chart to the nearest point. Years with fewer than 25 decisions are not shown.

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 79% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Russia (50.7%), India (13.9%), Mexico (7.5%), Afghanistan (6.8%), Guatemala (3.3%).

Official biography

Vikram K. Badrinath was appointed as an Immigration Judge to begin hearing cases in October 2022. Judge Badrinath ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 1992 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a Juris Doctor in 1995 from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. Since 2001, Judge Badrinath has been a certified specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law from the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization. From 1998 to 2022, he was a senior immigration attorney in private practice in Tucson, Arizona, represent ing individuals before the immigration court, Board of Immigration Appeals, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. District Courts, and Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal. From 1997 to 1998, he served as a mana ging attorney with a Phoenix-based immigration law firm in Tucson. From 1996 to 1997, he was an associate immigration attorney in private practice in Tucson Judge Badrinath is a member of the State Bar of Arizona, the State Bar of California, the District of Columbia Bar, the Hawaii State Bar, and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States.

As published by the Executive Office for Immigration Review at appointment, via TRAC.

In the record

No published reporting or appellate decisions naming this judge have been collected yet.

Other judges at Sacramento

Court page →

About these figures. Denial rates describe outcomes in the cases a judge happened to hear, which differ by detention, nationality and representation. They are not a measure of fairness or competence. Method and sources are on the judges index.